interstitialRedirectModalTitle

interstitialRedirectModalMessage

interstitialRedirectModalRedirectCTA
interstitialRedirectModalDismissCTA
Skip to content

Places We Protect

Kealakekua

Kealakekua Bay nestled by cliffs at right and community in the foreground, with sun beginning to set in the background.
ADAPTING TO CHANGE Rugged cliffs and a once remote location helped sustain Kealakekua’s resources for centuries. © iStock/redtea

Kapukapu ‘Ohana and Hoʻāla Kealakekua Nui are leading efforts to restore and protect the natural and cultural resources of Kealakekua.

Tour boat travels along rocky shoreline to enter the bay, with undeveloped coastal area and cliffs in the background.
BUSTLING WATERS Abundant marine life attracts increasing visitors from near and far to Kealakekua Bay every day. © iStock/phdpsx

Why Here

Located on the Kona coast of Hawai‘i Island, Kealakekua Bay’s tantalizing turquoise waters and coral reefs attract residents, tourists and vibrant marine life. The bay provides refuge for endangered species, including the ‘īlio holo i ka uaua (Hawaiian monk seal, Neomonachus schauinslandi), koholā (Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae), and honu (green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas), and large pods of nai ‘a (Hawaiian spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris) use these waters to rest, breed, and play. 

School of black surgeonfish swimming above finger coral.
REEF GRAZERS Surgeonfish and other herbivores graze algae, ensuring coral has space to settle and grow. © Kydd Pollock/TNC

In contrast to other popular coastal areas in the Main Hawaiian Islands, the bay harbors abundant reef fish populations due to its status as a Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), where harvest is strictly limited. These culturally and ecologically important species have provided for the area’s fishing communities for more than a thousand years and are essential to maintaining reef health. 

Marine Life in Hawaiʻi

Marine Life in Hawaiʻi Found only in Hawaiʻi, the ʻīlio holo i ka uaua (Hawaiian monk seal, Neomonachus schauinslandi) is one of the most endangered seal species in the world. © Kaikea Nakachi
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi School of small gray ʻōpelu swimming above sparse reef with some bleached corals. © Chad Wiggins/TNC
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi The endangered Kohala (Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate to Hawaiʻi each winter. © Kaikea Nakachi
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi Akule (bigeye scad, Selar crumenophthalmus) is an island favorite, enjoyed raw, dried or cooked. © Doug Perrine
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi Residents and visitors often spot honu (green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas), a threatened species, feeding at coral reefs and basking on island beaches. © John De Mello
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi ʻOmilu (bluefin trevally, Caranx melampygus) are prolific breeders, capable of reproducing up to eight times per year. © Kydd Pollock/TNC
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi Pod of nai'a or Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) © Doug Perrine
Marine Life in Hawaiʻi Using their parrot-like beak of fused teeth, uhu (ember parrotfish, Scarus rubroviolaceus) graze algae from reefs, ensuring coral has space to settle and grow. © TNC
Breadfruit trees and coastal ground cover grow around a constructed rock platform, with altar and offerings on the left.
Hikiau Heiau A sacred and ancient place of worship, Hikiau Heiau is one of many attractions at Kealakekua. © Leah Keller/ TNC

This natural bounty and the area’s cultural and historical sites—fishing villages, a former royal residence, sacred heiau (Hawaiian temples), and a monument signifying the location of Captain Cook’s arrival and death—have drawn increasing numbers of visitors in recent decades. 

Boats, kayakers and snorkelers float in calm waters of small cove between cliffs and rocky shore.
HARMFUL IMPACTS The impacts of tourism degrade cultural, historical and natural resources from mauka to makai. © iStock/Ashley DeMateo

But their impacts are degrading the very resources they come to see. Litter and human waste pollute the environment. Wildlife harassment disturbs marine life. Constant trampling damages the coral reef. 

These stressors are compounded by other local and global threats. For example, invasive wild goats destroy vegetation, causing erosion and sedimentation on the reef, while coral bleaching caused by marine heatwaves kills the already damaged and weakened coral. 

UNWANTED VISITORS A herd of invasive feral goats is destroying vegetation on the cliffs, causing sediments to flow into the bay. © TNC
Three scientists conducting SCUBA survey swim over reef that is almost completely bleached.
CORAL BLEACHING Reefs that already degraded by land-based stressors are especially vulnerable to coral bleaching. © David Slater

Statewide bleaching events in 2015 and 2019 led to an 88% decrease in coral cover at Kealakekua, and scientists tell us these events will become more frequent and intense in the coming years. Building reef resilience will help reefs better withstand these events and other pressures.

“When our village received the distressing news that our coral is severely depleted in our bay, we took it very seriously and applied the kumu kānāwai kīho‘iho‘i—the edict of regeneration—with modern scientific methodologies.”

Shane Akoni Palacat-Nelsen

President/Executive Director, Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui
Wearing a gray shirt and baseball cap, Shane Akoni Palacat-Nelsen participates in Hawaiian chant.

Project and Partners

Guided by Native Hawaiian values, generational knowledge and traditional practices, local groups are leading efforts to improve the condition of natural and cultural resources in and around Kealakekua Bay. These efforts focus on strengthening reciprocal pilina—the healthy relationships and connections among people, place and nature that allow all life to flourish. The groups partner with government agencies, academics, businesses and other non-profits to mālama or care for Kealakekua.

Kapukapu ‘Ohana

Kapukapu ‘Ohana members represent 23 organizations working to reduce pressures and restore Kealakekua’s natural and cultural resources so they can continue to nourish the community physically and spiritually long into the future. This collaborative partnership includes lineal descendants of Kealakekua, key landowners, resource managers, and others who use and care for the bay, including community members, government agencies (county, state, and federal), nonprofit organizations, researchers, and ecotourism companies.

Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui

Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui, a community non-profit with ancestral ties to Kealakekua, formed to steward the area’s resources. The group addresses challenges from mauka to makai through efforts such as the installation of traps for early detection of the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle, the establishment of a Makai Watch Program to monitor marine areas and promote compliance with state rules, and the launch of a coral restoration project to accelerate coral growth in the bay.

‘Ike Lawai‘a

 ‘Ike Lawai‘a is a Native Hawaiian non-profit organization founded by a lineal descendent of Kealakekua, whose fisher family has stewarded the bay for more than a century. The group works to perpetuate traditional lawai‘a (fishing) practices, preserve the bay’s ecological and cultural health, and pass down ancestral knowledge to the next generation.

Kealakekua Bay

Kealakekua Bay is one of eleven Marine Conservation Districts in Hawai‘i. This designation has helped to protect the bay’s marine life from some of the adverse impacts other nearshore marine areas experience.

Click Points to Learn More Return
Satellite image of coast with project area highlighted and Kealakekua Bay Marine Life Conservation District boundary. Kapukapu ‘Ohana Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui ‘Ike Lawai‘a Kealakekua Bay

How TNC Helps

Kai Kuleana members and Kealakekua leaders standing in the sand near the shore, with vegetation in background.
FOSTERING CONNECTION Kai Kuleana members share ʻike (knowledge) and experiences to advance community-led, place-conservation along the west coast of Hawaii Island. © TNC

TNC introduced Kealakekua community leaders to Kai Kuleana Network members so they could see how neighboring communities and leaders were addressing their shared challenges. Inspired by their camaraderie and the approaches and tools network members shared, the Kealakekua community leaders enlisted like-minded partners to collaboratively improve management of the area’s resources by forming the Kapukapu ʻOhana.

Group photo of 20 Kapukapu ʻOhana partners in front of Hikiau Heiau.
FOSTERING COLLABORATION Kapukapu ʻOhana members collaborate to address the diverse pressures on Kealakekua natural and cultural resources. © Leah Keller/TNC

The organizations that form Kapukapu ‘Ohana collectively developed a Community Action Plan outlining its vision and priorities, with TNC facilitating the planning process and coordinating ongoing activities among the group. Its efforts center on improved stewardship and sustainable use of the resources that foster community wellbeing, ecological health, and the perpetuation of cultural heritage.

The plan reflects their goal of strengthening reciprocal pilina (relationships) among people, place and nature through adaptive community-led stewardship. See a summary of the plan. This collaborative and holistic approach to strengthening management at Kealakekua will simultaneously combat a variety of threats to the area’s natural resources and cultural heritage.

Graphic depicting and explaining the relationships among people, place and nature.
FOSTERING PILINA Guided by Native Hawaiian values, Kapukapu ʻOhana focuses on strengthening reciprocal pilina (relationships) among people, place and nature. © Kapukapu ʻOhana
Up close view of coral reef.
FOSTERING RESILIENCE Coral restoration was identified as a promising intervention for the bay’s resilient coral species. © Javier Soler/TNC

With the bay’s reef identified as a priority in the Hawai‘i Coral Reef Strategy 2030: Makai Restoration Action Plan, TNC was able to secure federal funding to support coral restoration and bolster the capacity of Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui to ensure successful implementation of the CAP’s complementary management activities.

A diver reattaching coral to the reef using epoxy.
FOSTERING GROWTH To accelerate coral growth, project partners collect and reattach coral colonies that have broken off the reef. © Kaikea Nakachi

We also partnered with Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui and the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) to develop and implement Kanu Ko‘a, a coral restoration pilot project to accelerate coral growth and build reef resilience in the bay at a time when it is urgently needed. In consultation with TNC and DAR scientists, Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui selected the coral species and sites for restoration, and community volunteers helped to prepare and reattach the corals at the pilot project site.

Impacts and Benefits

Centering Culture

To honor cultural traditions, Ho‘āla Kealakekua Nui arranged a deeply moving opening ceremony for the coral restoration pilot project. 

Launch of Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay

Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay A planted coral. © Dan Dennison/DLNR
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay Partners on the Waʻa Kini Kini bring broken corals to shore for replanting. © Toni Parras/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay Hālau Kaʻeaikahelelani welcomes the broken corals that were collected for replanting. © Toni Parras/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay Shane Akoni Palacat-Nelson leads an oli. © David Wood/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay Community members help fragment corals after TNC staff demonstrate cutting technique. © David Wood/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay A community member fragments coral for outplanting © Toni Parras/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay Long-time community member enjoying the coral restoration event at Kealakekua © Toni Parras/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay TNC Coral Restoration Program Manager Julia Rose speaks with community members © Toni Parras/TNC
Kanu Ko‘a in Kealakekua Bay A member of Hālau Kaʻeaikahelelani looks out over Kealakekua Bay © David Wood/TNC
A small rust and white coral colony reattached to reef.
© Mikayla Barnwell/TNC

RESTORING CORAL

Over the next three years, coral will be reattached to more than an acre of reef to foster regrowth and boost resilience to climate change.

Seven dark brown feral goats forage for grasses.
© DLNR

REDUCING EROSION

Invasive goats will be trapped in temporary, baited corrals for distribution to the community through partnerships with ranchers, butcher shops and local food programs.

Dozens of visitors and kayaks along the shore.
© Krista Johnson

PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY

Special trainings for tourism operators and guidance for visitors will be provided to reduce coral trampling and wildlife harassment.

10-person field crew.
© Leah Keller/ TNC

SUPPORTING LIVELIHOODS

These increased efforts to protect the natural and cultural resources at Kealakekua will support new, locally-based jobs.

Get Involved

Many Kapukapu ‘Ohana partners host volunteer workdays and other events. Consider participating to learn more about the area and to help improve stewardship. Contact Lauren Nakoa, Kapukapu ‘Ohana Coordinator, at lauren.nakoa@tnc.org for details. And by all means, if you find yourself at Kealakekua, please adhere to the voluntary code of conduct to show respect for the people and resources of this wahi pana.

Graphic summarizing Kapukapu ʻOhana’s voluntary code of conduct for residents and visitors.
Kealakekua Code of Conduct The Kapukapu ʻOhana promotes a voluntary code of conduct to encourage respect for the community and natural and cultural resources.

Learn more about our science, restoration and how we help strengthen conservation management and leadership so Hawaiʻi's reefs can support healthy fisheries and prosperous communities long into the future.

Related articles

Landscape view of a large mountain range near the coast of the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Olowalu

In 2017, the Olowalu reef was declared a Mission Blue Hope Spot—a place that is critical to the health of our oceans.

Aerial view of reef at Puakō, Hawaii.

Restoring Hawaiʻi’s Reefs

See how we’re working to restore health and abundance to Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs and fisheries.

An aerial view of Kiholo fishpond on the island of Hawaii.

Kīholo Preserve

Kīholo is part of a coastal area once coveted by Hawaiian chiefs for its fisheries, fishponds and anchialine pools.

VIEW MORE ITEMS